MADELINE- Last night, 7.5 million people tuned into the finale of the most high-quality, dramatic, important, realistic television show in American history: The Bachelorette. The sappy confessions of love, emotional breakdowns, petty feuds, and countless sets of perfect abs have enchanted viewers since 2003, and in a lot of ways, this season was no different.
This year, however, The Bachelorette attracted extra attention. Finally, after 12 seasons of lily-white Bachelorettes, in February it was revealed that Rachel Lindsay, a black attorney from Dallas who placed third in Season 21 of The Bachelor, would be the Bachelorette for the 13th season. Both excitement and apprehension surrounded the announcement, since The Bachelor franchise does not boast a history of handling the topic of race elegantly or treating contestants of color with respect. Despite this, some were hopeful that the season would be great, citing the diversity of the bachelors selected for Rachel and her assertion that things wouldn’t be “that different from any other season of The Bachelorette”. As the season progressed, though, it became increasingly clear that Rachel’s optimism was admirable but ill-founded. Uncomfortable moments were scattered throughout the episodes, such as Dean Unglert’s proclamation that he’s “ready to go black” and Peter Kraus’s reference to Dallas suburb-born Rachel as a “girl from the hood” in a rap he wrote during some group date fun. These small instances laced everything with a kind of uneasiness. At least, for me it did - I was always prepared to wince whenever one of the white bachelors opened his mouth.
Unfortunately, the occasional cringey comment from a white bachelor was not the worst thing Rachel and the black bachelors were forced to smile through. They also had to endure contestant Lee Garrett, an aspiring country star who generated much of the season’s drama and controversy by aggravating the black contestants, especially 35-year old wrestler Kenny King. Unprovoked, Lee tried to sabotage Kenny’s relationship with Rachel multiple times by interrupting their time together and falsely claiming that Kenny is violent. He called him “aggressive,” and when black contestant Will Gaskins attempted to explain how the word evokes a harmful stereotype about black men, Lee ranted about how he’s playing “the race card” and continued to be a jerk until he was finally eliminated from the show in the sixth episode.
Unfortunately, the occasional cringey comment from a white bachelor was not the worst thing Rachel and the black bachelors were forced to smile through. They also had to endure contestant Lee Garrett, an aspiring country star who generated much of the season’s drama and controversy by aggravating the black contestants, especially 35-year old wrestler Kenny King. Unprovoked, Lee tried to sabotage Kenny’s relationship with Rachel multiple times by interrupting their time together and falsely claiming that Kenny is violent. He called him “aggressive,” and when black contestant Will Gaskins attempted to explain how the word evokes a harmful stereotype about black men, Lee ranted about how he’s playing “the race card” and continued to be a jerk until he was finally eliminated from the show in the sixth episode.
One might be tempted to argue that the show’s producers weren’t responsible for what happened, that they couldn’t possibly predict Lee would be so unapologetically racist and the black contestants would have to put up with it for weeks, but a little research and thought completely discredits this idea. Shortly after the list of contestants for this season was made public, tweets of Lee’s that expressed hatred toward Islam, called the Black Lives Matter movement a terrorist organization, and declared that the NAACP is as racist as the KKK surfaced, and there’s no way those responsible for selecting the bachelors didn’t see them. This article outlines the casting process for The Bachelor, which, I think it is safe to assume, is similar if not identical to the casting process for the The Bachelorette. The system for filtering out unworthy contestants is extensive and thorough - there are several questionnaires, examinations, and even interviews with psychologists and private investigators. There’s no way Lee’s tweets and racist views didn’t come up, but they cast him anyways. Why? It certainly wasn’t because they couldn’t find anyone better - thousands of men apply every season, at least some of which would be a far better match for Rachel than a racist who looks like a buff elf. The only possible explanation is that the producers deliberately cast Lee, thinking the inevitable racism-laden drama that would ensue would be entertaining.
Every season of The Bachelorette has to have a tool. I understand and fully support that. The petty antics that ensue as a result of throwing some inflammatory mouth-breather in the midst of serious contenders is a big part of what makes reality television so hilarious and captivating. The problem is that Lee Garrett is not just an inflammatory mouth-breather: he’s also a real-life, actual bigot who’s potentially dangerous to both Rachel and the black bachelors, and watching them be forced to deal with Lee’s racism isn’t entertaining at all. It’s gross. Using racism for ratings is gross. Turmoil on The Bachelorette should stem from the question of who loves the Bachelorette the most or who stole whose protein powder, not serious social issues that affect millions of Americans. The producers of the show should have known better.
A couple of nights ago, I was on a cruise ship with my family, researching for this post on my phone while sipping a cup of black tea (yes, I know it’s nasty, but it was 11pm and it was the only kind they had left) on the Lido Deck. My uncle passed by and asked what I was doing, so I tried to quickly summarize all the problems I saw in the The Bachelorette: the subtly racist remarks by contestants that the producers thought should be included in the show for some reason, the deliberate utilization of racism for viewership, and The Bachelor franchise’s general clumsiness when it comes to the topic of race that doesn’t seem to be getting any better. The only thing my uncle said to me in response was that people of color should just be glad that there’s a black Bachelorette now, and to complain about “little things like that” is “whiney.” Perhaps there is a very, very, very small parcel of truth in this sentiment. Big-picture wise, the casting of a Bachelorette of color is significant, especially if it’s only the beginning of the franchise’s efforts to diversify the show. At the same time, however, it’s not enough to cast protagonists of color: they must also be treated with the same respect as their white counterparts, and that’s not what occurred. The producers of The Bachelorette humiliated and belittled Rachel by turning a large portion of her season into an exploitative race-based feud that was harmless fun for no one but ignorant white viewers, which would have never happened to a white Bachelorette. Rachel, the contestants of color on her season, and any cast members of color on future seasons deserve much better than that.
Every season of The Bachelorette has to have a tool. I understand and fully support that. The petty antics that ensue as a result of throwing some inflammatory mouth-breather in the midst of serious contenders is a big part of what makes reality television so hilarious and captivating. The problem is that Lee Garrett is not just an inflammatory mouth-breather: he’s also a real-life, actual bigot who’s potentially dangerous to both Rachel and the black bachelors, and watching them be forced to deal with Lee’s racism isn’t entertaining at all. It’s gross. Using racism for ratings is gross. Turmoil on The Bachelorette should stem from the question of who loves the Bachelorette the most or who stole whose protein powder, not serious social issues that affect millions of Americans. The producers of the show should have known better.
A couple of nights ago, I was on a cruise ship with my family, researching for this post on my phone while sipping a cup of black tea (yes, I know it’s nasty, but it was 11pm and it was the only kind they had left) on the Lido Deck. My uncle passed by and asked what I was doing, so I tried to quickly summarize all the problems I saw in the The Bachelorette: the subtly racist remarks by contestants that the producers thought should be included in the show for some reason, the deliberate utilization of racism for viewership, and The Bachelor franchise’s general clumsiness when it comes to the topic of race that doesn’t seem to be getting any better. The only thing my uncle said to me in response was that people of color should just be glad that there’s a black Bachelorette now, and to complain about “little things like that” is “whiney.” Perhaps there is a very, very, very small parcel of truth in this sentiment. Big-picture wise, the casting of a Bachelorette of color is significant, especially if it’s only the beginning of the franchise’s efforts to diversify the show. At the same time, however, it’s not enough to cast protagonists of color: they must also be treated with the same respect as their white counterparts, and that’s not what occurred. The producers of The Bachelorette humiliated and belittled Rachel by turning a large portion of her season into an exploitative race-based feud that was harmless fun for no one but ignorant white viewers, which would have never happened to a white Bachelorette. Rachel, the contestants of color on her season, and any cast members of color on future seasons deserve much better than that.
So while the long overdue selection of a woman of color as the Bachelorette is something to celebrate, I feel that we shouldn’t be placated by it. Her casting doesn’t make up for season after season of white Bachelorettes and the disrespect she experienced during her own season. The Bachelor franchise needs to do better, and maybe, with more diverse casts and better treatment of those casts, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette could finally cease to be so white and frustrating.
